Hi All!

I am so proud to finally share my first BV fanfiction with you all. This has been a story which I've been writing on and off for over a year and finally was able to recently complete. I came to find BV almost two years ago now and have loved the show since. - Please note, this is a completed story. I won't be changing anything in it now at this stage, it will be uploaded in its entirety five chapters at a time till completed (that is the plan atm). Afterwards, the sequel that I am currently writing will also be posted here. This story is also cross-posted onto other platforms.

I hope that you all enjoy this story as much as I have writing it.

While I love receiving feedback, please ensure that all comments are polite and respectful of myself as a writer and other users on this platform. I do appreciate constructive criticism when it is delivered in a polite and appropriate manner. However, if I end up receiving multiple disrespectful/hateful comments, I will remove this story from this platform. I would hate to do that, as I know that some people on here don't use either of the other two platforms but if I receive those kinds of comments, I will have no other option but to delete.

Huge thank you to my beta reader :) You really are awesome to put up with me and my BV fan-fiction writing shenanigans.

Anyway, on to chapter 1!

Enjoy!

Chapter 1

It had started out as any usual early November day in the valley around Stockton, dawning bright and cheerful but with the promise of winter's soon approach. The serenity of the early morning however quickly dissipated by the ominous clouds rolling in shortly thereafter. It had been predicted that winter would arrive early; all the signs pointed to it being an unusually harsh winter but no one suspected that a blizzard would arise so quickly and so early into the season.

The clouds rolled in without warning, the weather turning bad along with their gathering. The wind rose and with it, pelting rain followed. Soon that rain had turned to snow and by the time it was afternoon, the storm had turned into the first blizzard of the year.

And woe to anyone, man or beast, who found themselves caught unawares in such a terrible storm.

To his unfortunate luck, Jarrod Barkley was one such man.

With winter approaching, the Barkley ranch, like many other ranchers in the area, had been preparing for the onset of winter. All the stock that had been retained for the coming year were being rounded up and brought into the home paddocks where the winter hands could tend to and care for the horses and cattle. With whispers of another gold strike in South Dakota, some of their ranch hands had decided to try their luck at prospecting and left, causing them to now be shorthanded for the winter-round up. And so, with his last legal case he'd been working on resolved the week previous and no other pressing work to be done, Jarrod had offered to help with the round-up.

They'd been working on the winter round-up for three days now with most of the cattle already penned in the holding yards waiting to be driven to the home pastures. After Nick had completed the count the night before and found around twenty head missing, Jarrod offered to go collect the stragglers while Nick, Heath and the hands took care of driving the herd home.

Breaking camp at dawn, Jarrod made tracks to the higher pastures near Fall's Creek, one of the furthermost pastures belonging to the Barkley's and bordering a number of small holdings. To his luck he found a number of the missing cattle grazing upstream a ways, taking him and Jingo little time to gather them together and start them in the direction of the valley.

Unfortunately for Jarrod, finding the missing cattle with ease was where his luck ran out as the weather turned.

The storm arose quickly, the rain pelting down from the dark clouds above. Because of the storm, the cattle grew anxious and Jarrod struggled to keep the small herd together and moving in the direction of the low country. By the time he'd driven the herd a couple miles, he was soaked through and exhausted but he couldn't stop now. He had to keep the cattle moving.

As he doggedly pressed on, the rain began to turn to snow as the storm continued.

Shortly afterwards, he realized that there was no way he would be able to make it home in this storm and he knew he had no choice but to seek shelter. By now it had turned into a real white-out, the herd pressed together in front of him almost obscured by the blinding snow. Jarrod had long since passed being cold, he was frozen though. To conserve what little heat and energy he had left he hunched down low over his horse, guiding Jingo forward after the cattle through the thick trees he'd driven them to in order to have a little shelter from the storm. With no other choice but to find shelter and wait out the storm he started the herd in the direction of where he hoped one of the Barkley's line cabins were. He'd just have to bunk down there and wait out the bad weather.

Time slipped by as Jarrod rode on through the storm, praying that he was going in the right direction. Cold…. So cold…. He blinked hard, forcing himself to focus on the dark forms of the bawling cattle he was driving. His mind was becoming sluggish from the cold, almost all feeling having disappeared from his toes and his fingers. The only thing that he focused his mind on now was getting to the cabin. He had to make it. With already being soaked through from the rain and now the freezing wind and snow he was frozen. It was cold. So unbearably cold.

Jingo tripped, Jarrod almost being thrown from the saddle as his gelding flailed beneath him for a moment before his mount found his footing again. "Easy…. Easy boy…" He soothed, his teeth chattering slightly. His fingers stiff with cold he brought a hand down to the gelding's neck and gave him an encouraging pat. "Won't… won't be much longer now boy…"

Allowing him a moment to rest he then tapped him with his spurred heels and Jingo started forward once more.

By the time the cabin, barn and holding yards appeared in front of them, Jarrod was so cold he could barely keep himself awake and upright on his horse. The cattle milled about anxiously as he struggled with the gate but once he had gotten it opened he drove them in and shut the gate behind them. Once he'd warmed up he'd come back and take care of feeding them. With the cattle secure he rode to the cabin, Jingo positioning himself against it to try and get out of the wind. Stiffly letting go of the reins Jarrod attempted to dismount, rather unsuccessfully and after a moment he found himself in the snow.

Forcing himself to rise, he stumbled towards the door and struggled with the door latch for a moment before finally managing to open it. The wind blew the door open and he hurried in, fighting against the wind to get it closed again before he realized a smaller figure had come beside him, helping him to close it.

The blizzard raged outside the closed door, howling around the cabin with a vengeance. Jarrod wearily pulled his muffler down as he wiped the snow from his eyes and took a moment to gather his bearings before turning his attention to the figure who had helped him with the door. Well I'll be damned… He thought, looking at the girl who had bolted to the other side of the cabin and was staring wide-eyed at him, just as surprised with his presence as he was with hers. He sure hadn't expected to find anyone else up here and judging from the look on her face, neither had she.

They both looked at each other for a long moment and he cleared his throat as he took a step inside the cabin. "Hello-"

"Don't." The girl hissed as she picked up the frying pan off the table, holding it in front of her like a weapon. "Don't come near me. Stay right where you are. I ain't afraid to use this."

"I-I won't…" He took a moment to catch his breath and gain his bearings. "I won't hurt you." He said, trying to reassure her as he took another step towards her. "Just… just need to wait out the storm here. Alright?" He paused. Talking was draining what little energy he had left and he didn't feel like entering into a fight with this stranger. He waited but the girl didn't appear to want to let her guard down and he held up his hands in surrender. "You-you have my word. I won't harm you."

The girl looked at him closely. "Who are you?" She finally asked after a long moment.

"Jarrod. Jarrod Barkley."

She seemed to relax slightly hearing his name though didn't appear quite ready to give up her makeshift weapon just yet. "You aren't working for Cade Alton are you?"

"Who?" He questioned, frowning. "Never… Never heard of the name."

She looked at him closely for a moment and he could see she was searching his expression to see if he was telling the truth. After a moment she appeared satisfied that he seemed to be for with a heavy sigh, she finally placed the frying pan back on the table. "I-I'm sorry. You frightened me." She began to explain though she still eyed him warily. "I didn't think anyone would be out here in this weather… You must be frozen, it's some storm out there." She motioned to the chair in front of the fireplace. "Sit. I'll make you some coffee. But-" She warned. "you try and lay a hand on me or get 'friendly' and I'll whack you good with my frying pan. And don't think I won't, cause I will. I ain't afraid to use it."

"You have my word, I won't hurt you." He promised as he started towards the chair. He stumbled, his numb feet not cooperating with him and he managed to catch himself on the side of the table before he fully hit the ground. Before he could react, the girl was by his side and without protest he allowed her to help him over to the chair. "Thank you."

She nodded as she retreated a couple paces, again observing him with her cold amber brown eyes. "You're soaked through." She remarked, softer and with a tone of concern in her voice. "You're liable to catch your death of cold in those wet clothes. Here, let me help." She began helping him out of his coat, tossing it over the back of the other chair. Quickly she worked, removing his outer garments until she'd helped him down to his shirt and jeans then she went over to the bed and grabbed a couple of blankets for him to wrap himself in. "You got a horse outside?"

"I have."

"I'll take care of him then." She interrupted as she came back to where he sat. "Poor thing can't stay out in this weather. Get yourself out of the rest of those wet clothes while I'm gone. I'll hang them to dry." She exclaimed, placing the blankets within reach. "I'll tend to your horse."

"You don't have to-"

"Can't let him freeze to death out there." She exclaimed, putting her hat, muffler, coat and boots from beside the door. "I won't be long." She remarked then she was gone, disappearing out through the door into the blizzard.

Silence fell and Jarrod sat for a moment with his thoughts then set to work on getting out of his wet clothes. After struggling with them for a bit he got them off and wrapped himself in the blankets the girl had given him before dragging the chair closer to the fireplace to warm himself.

After what seemed like an eternity, the door opened again and the girl returned covered in a thick layer of snow. "Sure is a blizzard out there." She remarked as she dropped his bedroll and saddlebags on the floor before setting to work on removing her snow covered outer garments. Her coat, hat and muffler she quickly hung to dry then she returned to the fire to get warm. "Weather caught you off guard too?" She questioned as she took her boots off, standing an arms length away from him.

He nodded.

"Sure is a bad storm out there." She said again, rubbing her arms to get them warm as awkward silence fell. "Well I… I best get that coffee on like I promised." She finally exclaimed once she'd spent some time in front of the fire and had warmed up. "You must be frozen through, riding in a storm like that."

Jarrod nodded again. "Almost."

"What were you doing out in this weather anyway?"

"Trying to round up stray cattle."

"I see." She poured some water from a nearby bucket into the kettle and hung it up on the hook inside the fireplace. "Picked a day for it." She looked back at him for a moment. "How's your hands and feet? A body's liable to get frostbite in weather like that."

"Slowly thawing out."

"Let me have a look." She ordered and after a moment, he showed her his hands. She winched a little as she saw them. The skin appeared stiff and waxy, a sure sign they were frostbitten even though he'd been wearing gloves.

"Guess we'd better get them into some water soon." Jarrod said.

She nodded. "I'll get some more water heated up."

Silence fell again and Jarrod observed her as she worked, two questions on his mind. One- who was she? And two- what was she doing here? If he had to guess, she couldn't be any more than fifteen years old. She was a tiny snip of a girl, bundled up in a coat three sizes too big for her, a long brown skirt and thick leggings that peaked out at her ankles where the skirts' hem ended. She seemed frightened of him but who wouldn't be, a young girl on her own all the way out here and a strange man arriving like he had? Still, considering she was in one of their cabins he had questions and in time, he wanted some answers.

Returning to the fireplace after a time she poured him a cup of coffee. "Here." She held the steaming cup of coffee towards him, having wrapped a cloth around it first to protect his hands from being burnt from the hot metal. "Careful now. Wouldn't want you to burn yourself."

"Thank you." Jarrod accepted the cup gratefully and cautiously took a couple of sips, savoring the warmness in his mouth for a moment before he swallowed. Thanks to getting out of those soaked clothes, sitting in front of a roaring fire and the coffee, he began to feel warmer. The girl watched him for a moment then when she seemed satisfied he could manage with the drink, turned her attention to arranging his clothes out to dry. He drank slowly and by the time he had finished, he felt like the chill had begun to leave his bones.

"Want some more?"

He nodded as he handed the cup back to you. "I wasn't expecting anyone else to be here." He remarked as she filled the cup again from the pot in the fireplace, watching her closely. Feeling a little better now and not quite as frozen and sluggish, he wanted some answers to the questions he'd come up with. "Well, you know my name. Who might you be?"

"Name's Millie. Millie Anders." She replied cautiously, handing him back the cup.

"What's a young woman like yourself doing all the way up here?"

"I was camped out a few miles from here when I saw the storm coming in, didn't feel much like staying out on the plains when it rolled in and I had to find shelter. Got lucky enough to find this place."

"Where do you live? Won't your folks be worried about you?"

Millie turned to him, a little anger flicking in her eyes. "Do you always ask so many questions?"

Jarrod chuckled softly. "I'm sorry, I guess it could come across as an interrogation. Forgive me. I'm a lawyer you see and sometimes when I'm with folks I forget I'm not in a courtroom." She nodded but as she stood, he could tell she had no intentions of answering those questions.

"Well, best get some food prepared then, I guess." She remarked, going back over to the table where she'd been in the process of skinning a couple rabbits when this man had stumbled in. "Hope you like rabbit stew and biscuits…"